Believing in Possibilities
by chasingafterstarlight
Summary: Believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing. Or, the time that Jade travelled with the Doctor, and in the end, she learned to live life to the fullest. -Jade/Ten, Jade/Beck, Ten/Rose. Doctor Who crossover.


**A/N: Okay, first, just a few starter points. This _is _a crossover with Doctor Who; I've put it in the Victorious fandom because I believe I can get more feedback there. I will be changing it to crossover soon. Do not bother flaming me about this.**

**Though the main characters are Jade and Beck by the summary thing, the story is primarily about the Doctor and Jade, though it (Spoiler) does end Jade/Beck and Doctor/Rose. (Spoiler)**

**This is completely AU and takes place after Doomsday, with Jade replacing Donna. I did not like the angst with Rose/Ten so I sort of rewrote it.**

**That being said, please read and enjoy!**

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><p><em>Believing in Possibilities<em>

**believing in even the possibility of a happy ending is a very powerful thing.  
><strong>_- once upon a time_

_What has he done_?

The words pound in his head, creating a constant rhythm in his overdeveloped brain. There's a small aching in his chest, and all he wants to do is sob silently to himself like any normal human would do. Then again, he isn't exactly normal or human, is he?

He wipes his only tear away, scolding himself silently for acting like such a commoner. Frowning, he begins to tinker with the controls, pushing the buttons in the combination only he would know.

When he glances up at last, his eyes fall upon a figure. Immediately, he steps back. Anyone who he would allow in the TARDIS is gone, in an alternate universe that he strongly believes he will never find a way to again, and yet there is a _girl_ here. At first, his heart leaps into his chest, because perhaps Rose has found a way back. Perhaps all hope is not lost.

Then the dark figure turns and steps forward so that it is in the light. After staring at it for a moment, he realises that he was entirely wrong in even considering the possibility that Rose could return, because this is certainly not Rose. Not even close.

"Who the _heck_ are you?" the female sneers, her arms crossed tightly across her chest. He takes a step back, surprised by her blunt speech. Quickly, he looks her over. This girl, the unknown girl, has dark black hair that is streaked with blue and various other colours. She's dressed in black from head to toe, including the black combat boots on her feet. If she hadn't spoken, he might have thought her British and from a darker time in the future, but it's evident from her words and her accent that she is from 21st century America.

"What?" is all he manages to get out, feeling all the more confused as the time ticks by. "But- _what_?"

"What the chiz is this place?" she continues on, paying him no mind as she begins to stalk around, twirling a spare pair of scissors around her fingers. "Is this some sort of alien spaceship? I don't _believe_ in aliens, except for Vega, because she's as bad-looking as an alien." Biting her lip, the mystery girl kicks the central part of the TARDIS.

"No, no, don't kick that!" he cries, feeling as if he is admonishing a small child. As he places his hands on her shoulders to jerk her away, he feels her inhale sharply, but if she is attracted to him at all, she doesn't show it. Instead, she just takes a step back, looking even more insolent than before, and shrugs him off of her.

He already dislikes her in a way, because he's the _Doctor _and humans are meant to fawn over him, to adore him, and this girl is treating him like dirt despite the fact that he has not thrown her out of the TARDIS yet. She just glares up at him. "Where am I?" Then, rolling her eyes, she stalks over to the door. "Never mind; I'll find out for myself."

In a way, he kind of admires her for that, and doesn't bother stopping her as she walks over to the door of the TARDIS and flings it open. She stands there for a moment, staring at the expanse of space and stars and _atmosphere_, and then she closes the door after a moment.

If she is stunned by this view, she does not show it. Instead, she turns back to the Doctor, her bright blue eyes blazing. "I think you've got a lot of explaining to do," she declares, her black-painted fingernails digging into her sides. "Has this freaky spaceship got somewhere that we can sit?"

He nods mutely, turning to walk off, but before he gets all the way to the corridor, she speaks again. "Cat got your tongue? I don't bite, that is, unless you're an annoying freak."

"Aren't you scared?" he questions slowly. "Isn't this a bit overwhelming? I mean, you're _human_."

"Surprising, yes," she responds with the utmost of confidence. "I just don't let it show. Now, c'mon, lead the way there, you gank. We haven't got all day."

"Just the entirety of space and time," he mumbles under his breath.

–

"I'm Jade West," she announces once they're in a separate room and she has probably realised that he is most certainly not going to speak first. For some reason, he has this pride thing where, in awkward situations, he refuses to be the first one to speak. And this situation is more than awkward.

"Well, Jade West, I'm the Doctor, of course," he replies, regaining a bit of his normal attitude at last. "Now, I must ask– how in the universe did you come to be upon my lovely little ship?"

"You kidnapped me," she states matter-of-factly. "Are you a pedophile? I really hate pedophiles, for the record."

"Hardly," he snorts, raising an eyebrow at her. There is something about this girl that is different than any human he has known before, different than _Rose_ (though even the mention of her name is enough to send unimaginable pain through both of his hearts). "As I told you before, I'm the Doctor."

"Are you some sort of porn star, then?" Her grin widens.

He feels himself blush despite his internal resolution to stay calm. It's funny, really, he thinks, how this human girl can hold her own against one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe. Still, she is no match for the Doctor.

"No, I'm a Time Lord," he declares proudly, hoping to break through her walls for once and surprise her.

"A Lord?" she repeats incredulously, and he takes pride in the slightly shocked expression on her face. "Like a god or something? Those don't exist, dork."

"You know," he tells her, leaning back, "I should be offended by that."

"Man up," she commands in return.

"I would, if I was a human," he replies, the corners of his mouth curving up into the slightest of smiles. He kind of likes this, he decides; it's nice having something to distract him from his shattered heart(s).

As if to challenge him, she raises one of her eyebrows, which draws his attention to the simple, silver stud that rests just above the curve of her eyebrow. His mind goes immediately to the headsets worn by the Cybermen, and he makes a mental note to check it later, just to be safe. At last, she speaks. "You're telling me you're not human?"

"I told you I'm a _Time Lord_," he repeats, and then, in irritation, he stalks across the room and takes her pale hand in his before pressing it to his chest. Her eyes flash in warning, but the storm in her eyes seems to calm after a moment and then flare back up again.

She pulls back her hand as if she has been burned. "You have _two hearts_?"

"I am a _Time Lord_," he repeats again, glaring at her. "I'm not human!"

"All right," Jade replies, backing up so that she is sitting back down again. "All right. So, please tell me who the heck you are."

Immediately, he shoots back, "Actually, seeing as you're the one who has randomly turned up on _my_ ship, I think it's only proper that you should explain yourself first."

"I _told_ you I'm Jade West," she repeats stubbornly, and upon seeing that look in his eye, the look he knows means that he is _not_ going to drop it, she continues. "I'm Jade West. I'm seventeen, eighteen, something like that; I think I forgot somewhere along the way. I've just finished off high school, broken up with my boyfriend, and I'm an actress, but I'm looking for a new job because I've just finished off my first movie. I hate people, ducks, the word 'panties', Tori Vega, allergies, the sun, dogs, the color pink..." She cuts herself off there, blushing, and then continues. "Well, yeah, I kind of hate a lot of things. I live in Hollywood, which is in California, and you're obviously British." She wrinkles her nose in distaste. "At least it's better than Canada."

He has to laugh at her, at the fact that this girl he has never even _met_ before who amuses him to no end. After a moment, he just shakes his head. "You're quite special, Jade West. And I'm not exactly British..."

"Now, explain yourself," she demands, crossing her arms across her (extremely well-developed) chest.

And so he does.

He tells her about time, space, and the TARDIS, about his companions and how he has 'recently lost' one of them, and about some of the craziest creatures he has run into during his travels. He does make sure to skim over the details and the personal things, though, since he has only just met her and all.

Once he finishes, he looks over at her. Instead of scared, she just looks kind of indifferent, perhaps a little... excited? He wonders if his emotion sensors are failing, or if this Jade girl is just completely different than any human he has ever encountered.

"You're not scared?" he questions, placing his hands behind his head. "You don't want to go back home to your Mummy and Daddy and your friends?"

"No," she retorts. "I want you to take me somewhere, actually. Anywhere in the universe you'd like to show me."

"Challenge accepted," the Doctor replies, shooting up from his chair. "Allons-y!"

–

They end up in the middle of nowhere; at least, that is what it seems like. The darkness seems to go on for ages. He gulps at once, his head spinning. How could he have miscalculated so badly?

Quickly, he shuts the door of the TARDIS. Perhaps he can take them to another place before Jade even notices. Though, of course, he's only known her a few hours, but he can already tell that she is not one to let things go.

"You went off course, didn't you?" She smirks as she walks over to the door. "We're not in Tanzania." She states it as if it is fact, and he hates to admit that it's true.

"Course we are," he bluffs, positioning himself right in front of the door. "We're just– we've got a a bit of an issue–"

"The issue being that we're nowhere near Tanzania at all." Jade rolls her eyes and steps forward, giving him a huge shove. He stumbles and ends up pressed against the wall, his shoulder aching. Wearily, he watches her as she pushes open the door to the TARDIS. Her eyes darken as she stares at the void, and then she slams the door shut.

"What is this?" she demands, her voice trembling. "This is–"

"Nothing," the Doctor shrugs. "Well, actually, I'm wrong on that one. There is probably stuff out there. The problem is that it is too dark for either of us to see it."

"You know," Jade says with a wicked smile, "I _hate_ the sunlight."

He knows what is coming before she even does it, but somewhere deep inside, he knows that there is no way that he can stop her, so he just watches as she tosses open the door to the TARDIS and steps out. He works up the nerve to yell "West, you narrow-minded human, _stop_–"

Of course, before he can even finish the sentence, she disappears out into the darkness. Sighing, he runs a hand through his hair. "How come none of them can _ever_ remember the 'don't wander off' rule? Never! I mean, you think after all these years I'd learn."

Scowling, he adjusts his coat and throws open the door, plunging himself into the myriad of darkness. He has no idea why he's going after some girl that he barely knows but he knows that he _has_ to. For whatever reason, the universe threw her at him right after- _dare he say it_- Rose disappeared, so he supposes it's his duty to take care of him or something like that.

He turns around to press his hands to the cold metal of the TARDIS, the only reminder that he isn't surrounded by nothingness besides the ground beneath his feet. Then, taking a deep breath, he starts walking in the direction that he hears her footsteps.

"Jade," he calls into the black, hoping for a response. "_Jade_!"

No one responds, though, causing him to frown all the more. This just means more work for him, because there is no way he is going to lose his new assistant on her first day.

"Jade!" he bellows again, kicking the ground beneath him. There is still no response, much to his chagrin, so he begins to walk again. He has a feeling that finding her is going to be a hard job, but if anyone can find her, it is the _Doctor_.

He begins to push through the darkness, trudging through the slightly battered terrain (from what he can gather, at least). Occasionally, he runs into things, and he thinks he might've stabbed his toe once or twice, but it doesn't matter because soon his calls are answered.

"Yo, Doctor guy," Jade calls, and at last he can feel her warmth near him. "It's dark in here. I hate not being able to see. Let's go back to your spaceship _Galatica_or whatever."

"TARDIS, actually," he corrects her. "And I would, but the thing is that I've walked quite a fair way from the TARDIS and it's dark, so I haven't a clue as to how to get back."

He can nearly picture the scowl on her face, but then her lukewarm hand is encasing his and there is something cold. "Imagine this might help?" she whispers. "I took it from your pocket while you were talking about some nonsense that I don't care much about."

His hands play with the thing for a moment before he realises what it is. Quickly, he switches on the sonic screwdriver so that it casts a ghastly blue glow upon the two of them.

"Well, now that that's taken care of, let's get out of this dump." Her nose wrinkles up.

"How do you know that it's a dump?" The Doctor moves the sonic screwdriver's light around so that he can see the world that they've accidentally come upon. It seems to be filled with strange plants and a strange, moistened ground. Quickly, he begins to back up. "You're right once again, Jade West."

"I'm always right," she tells him smugly.

Then the Doctor moves up his light just a bit, and it illuminates one of the creepiest things thus far– a creature with no real face, just a black blur where his face should be. Then teeth burst out of the nothingness, creating a smile that is as evil as it is creepy. Two eyes appear out of nowhere, and he knows that they were not just closed– no, they didn't exist two seconds ago. They literally came from _nothing_.

It completely defies the laws of physics, but then again, so does most of the unimaginable things that he has seen.

Turning to Jade, he voices the one thing that is almost certainly on both of their minds: "Run."

So they do. They run and run, the dim light from the sonic screwdriver the only light that's guiding them. After a few minutes of the extremely tiresome running, the Doctor realises that they are being followed. He shines the light back after the footsteps become more evident to see the faceless people. As the light reaches them, eyes appear on their face that look as if they are legitimately popping up out of nowhere.

"You know," Jade says breathlessly yet at the same time conversationally, "I'm not scared of things, because I'm brave and all that, but if I was scared of something, it would _probably _be those things."

He's slightly surprised that she has not run out of stamina yet, because he honestly would have expected any _normal_ human to stop at the first couple of feet. From what he has seen, humans are generally lazy. But she is an exception to this rule. In fact, she is an exception to most rules.

They reach the TARDIS at last and Jade presses her pale cheek to the metal, a small smile upon her face (bigger than any he's seen her wear before). "We're alive," she says, tossing open the door and walking inside. "We're alive."

She collapses onto the floor, looking like a mess of nerves and relief, and he must admit that he feels the same way. He double-checks to ensure that the doors are closed and properly locked, so it does not faze him when the creatures begin to pound on the walls. "Yes," he says at last, glancing around the TARDIS in relief. "Yes, we're definitely alive."

Absently, he fiddles with the controls before glancing back up at Jade. "So, where do you want to go next?" he asks casually, as if he is merely asking what she wants for dinner.

Somehow, he finds himself expecting the typical human answer. He expects her to say that she wants to go home, that she has had enough adventure for her whole life. Instead, she just straightens up. "Hm?"

"We've got all of space and time, all the universes at our hands," he tells her, throwing out his hands. "Not every planet has aliens similar to those, you know. So, any requests?"

"Take me somewhere you've always wanted to go," she demands, and he inhales quickly, surprised, but he reminds himself to always expect the unexpected when he is dealing with Jade West. Then he realises that he knows exactly where to take her.

–

This time, he manages to get them there without accidentally landing them on a random, freaky planet. Feeling like a proper gentleman, he holds the door for Jade as she steps out. She doesn't bother thanking him, but then again, he hadn't expected her to thank him anyway. He follows her onto the lush green grass, grinning as a small smile appears on her face.

"Welcome to Chimeria," he announces, throwing out his arms. "Or, as I like to call it, the Garden Planet."

Jade kicks at the grass, frowning as it grows taller at her touch. "This grass is weird," she remarks, pulling a strand from the ground and rubbing it between her fingers. "It seems to grow a lot faster than the grass does back on Earth."

"Well, yes, that it does," he says, reaching over and plucking the grass from between her fingers. "Life cycles are much shorter here. Careful, Jade, you might not want to mess around too much. I've heard that the aliens here are not too lenient on humans."

"They can do their worst," she growls, but he sees the vulnerability in her eyes. As hard as she might try to disguise it, this is all new to her, and she is scared. Just like _Rose_ was, just like Mickey was, just like Jackie, just like all the companions before them. However, he thinks, Jade is not just another companion, and nor was Rose. Both of them are, were, the most unique companions that he has ever had, and he finds himself enamored with both of them. Rose a bit more, though, and embarrassingly enough, as he sees Jade walking around and voicing her opinion on every little thing that the planet has to offer, he finds himself wishing it was Rose. Not that he would ever tell Jade that, anyway.

After a few minutes of hiking, they come to a fork in the trail. Jade, being the individualist, insists that they take the road less traveled. The Doctor can find a million and one things wrong with her idea, but he relents nonetheless and follows her down the obscure trail.

The road is dusty and probably coated with the remains of animals that had lived there before. Even the thought is enough to make the Doctor shudder. Jade, however, still seems fascinated with all the planet has to offer, including the oddly-shaped snakes that hang from the trees and the strange plants that seem to be cutting off the oxygen in even the strongest of trees.

At last, the Doctor hears the sound of running water. He must admit that he is slightly relieved; despite not being human, he still is incredibly thirsty. To his fascination, they come across a large waterfall.

"This is actually pretty nice," Jade remarks, marveling at the glorious waterfall. And then, being the rash, idiotic fool of a human that she always is, she starts to walk toward it.

"Jade West! Are you _mad_?" the Doctor yells, but as always, she ignores him and continues to scale along the side of the waterfall until she is standing directly behind it. Then, in a burst of courage or stupidity (though which, he'll never know), she steps forward.

He feels both of his hearts stop.

Feeling more empowered now, he dashes forward and catches her as she begins to slide down the slippery rock. He feels his lithe feet moving beneath him, clinging desperately to the slick rock, and he holds her tightly to his chest as he moves quickly back to the dry rock. Setting her down, he stares for a moment at her soaked figure and then shakes his head. "What were you _thinking_?"

"It's hot out here," she declares, as impotent as ever. "I just wanted to cool off."

"Well, then, I'll be sure to accompany you to the water park next time." He rolls his eyes. "Really, you'd have thought that they would have taught that to you in primary school!"

"I don't _normally_ pay attention in class," she declares, rolling her eyes. "They don't normally teach anything that I need to know."

"Well, maybe you should start," he retorts, "or at the very least, take a class in Common Sense, because you seem to be lacking greatly in that area."

Then, in an inexplicable burst of euphoria, both of them start to laugh hysterically. It is one of those situations where neither is sure as to why they are laughing, but both of them continue to laugh anyway. They just sit there, the Doctor's arms still plastered to Jade's wet body, and laugh, as if neither of them has a care in the world.

"Thanks for this," she says, once her laughter has ceased and they start to head back. "I don't laugh a lot, and it was nice to be able to let go for once, you know?"

"Yes," he tells her after a moment. "Yes, I do."

–

They continue like that for a while. One might say that Jade is Rose's replacement, but the Doctor can't quite think of her that way. He thinks of her more as a glue, a sticky substance to fill the void that Rose has left without fixing it completely.

He still thinks of her often, Rose, that is. One day, Jade finds one of her jackets in an empty corner of the TARDIS and simply raises an eyebrow at her. All he gets out is 'a former companion', and thankfully enough, she drops the subject. That's one of the things he likes about her, the fact that she normally doesn't pry.

After a while, though, he notices that she seems to become upset over the littlest things. Whilst this is typical of her, considering the fact that she is _Jade West_ and she gets riled up over everything, he notes that it is happening more often than not. And so, he makes the decision (without any consent from her) to take her back to see her family and friends, if just for a few days.

He tells her that he is taking her to a surprise location, and for once, she does not question him. But once they get there, she has quite a few words for him, most of which are not polite in the least.

Once she calms down a bit, she spins to face him. "I can't _believe you_!" she sputters, her hands hesitating over the loose pair of scissors that is tucked into her belt loop. "You brought me back to this horrible place and you _lied _to me and–"

"Jade West!" comes a boy's voice, and the Doctor turns to see a handsome, tanned young man. "Jade, is that _you_?"

Her face falls at once, he notes, and he think she has a pretty good idea of who this boy could be. His suspicions are confirmed when she fakes a smile at him and greets him by saying in a stony voice, "Hello, Beck. Surprise, surprise."

The boy pulls her into an incredibly tight hug that she does not return, and when he pulls away, he whispers softly, "You know, Jade, I thought you weren't coming back. Your parents put up missing posters, Jade!" He pulls back now, placing his hands on her shoulders. "We all thought you were _dead_!"

"I hoped that I wouldn't be forced to come back," she replies with a sigh.

"You could've _called_!" Beck hisses, his eyes dark with something like protective love. "You might've let me know you were all right! I worried about you, Jade!"

She just scowls, shaking her head. "You haven't changed a bit, have you? You're still the arrogant jerk you were when we broke up."

"And you're still the unfeeling gank you were when we were dating," he says with a laugh. "Good thing I still love that unfeeling gank."

The Doctor can see the blush that stains Jade's cheeks, and he knows that somewhere, deep down inside, Jade still has feelings for this boy. He also knows, though, that this encounter is becoming all the more awkward by the moment, and he decides that it's about time that he jumps in.

Jumping forward, he grins at Beck and shakes his hand. "Hello, hello, Beck Oliver, right? I've heard so very much about you! I'm the Doctor, pleasure to meet you."

"Hey, Doctor," Beck says, visibly relaxing a little bit. "You're a friend of Jade's?"

"I suppose you could say that," he replies cheerfully. "We kind of went on a bit of a staycation, no big deal."

"I hate that word," Jade interjects, crossing her arms. "Staycation, that is."

"That's wonderful!" the Doctor declares, raising an eyebrow as if to tell her that she might want to watch herself a little bit or improve her attitude or _something; _she could surely do something. "Now, Jade, I'm sure there are a million places that you'd like to visit while you're here?"

"You're not staying, then?" Beck questions, and the Doctor readies himself for a Mickey-like temper tantrum.

"No," Jade replies, glancing over at her ex-boyfriend as if to ask why he cares in the first place.

"Oh," Beck says with a laugh. "I should've known. You always did hate this city."

And, even though he (the Doctor) is walking quite a bit ahead of them by now, he swears that in his peripheral vision he sees Jade's hand entwine with Beck's. Or maybe it's just wishful thinking.

–

They end up visiting the school that Jade used to go to, and Beck kindly informs them that one 'Tori Vega' is now student-teaching one of the classes while in between her movies. From the pointed glare that Jade shoots Beck, the Doctor assumes that this has to be the girl that Jade strongly dislikes.

The three of them tour the hallway, and he enjoys a steady commentary from Jade and Beck as they walk. Beck points at an old janitor's closet with glee. "Remember when we used to skive off class and make out there?"

"Well, it was definitely more entertaining than class," Jade sighs, as if she is trying to pretend that it doesn't bother her, though she doesn't succeed.

"Yeah, I tend to have that effect on people," Beck tells her arrogantly. It earns him a slap to the head.

As they continue to walk, the Doctor tries to picture Jade as a teenager, prowling the halls, waiting for her next subject to pounce on. But more and more often he finds himself watching Beck and Jade and thinking of Rose. He misses her more than he had thought he would.

They walk into the last classroom on the hall. There is a girl sitting in there, completely alone, scribbling on test papers as if nothing else in the world matters. Once they walk in, she finally glances up. Her brown eyes widen as they fall upon Jade, and then she flings herself at Jade.

After a minute, Jade pries her off slowly. "Vega," she says, gritting her teeth, "I know you're glad to see me and all that, but could you _please _refrain from strangling me to death on my first day back?"

"Sorry," Tori responds, her face bright with happiness. "I just– I thought you were dead!"

"Yeah, I've heard." Jade rolls her eyes. "Between Beck and my mother, though, it's no wonder everyone thought I was dead. Those two are the biggest worriers I've ever met."

"Where have you been?" Tori questions, sounding less happy now and more accusing.

"I've been traveling," Jade answers ominously. "It was refreshing. I didn't have to deal with you on a daily basis."

The Doctor has to laugh at that, but Tori doesn't even seem to take offense. Instead, she grins. "And I didn't have to deal with your abuse. It was kind of nice."

"Fall in a hole, Vega!" Jade yells as they exit the room. The Doctor thinks that it's kind of a nice leaving sentiment.

Just from the way they interact, the Doctor knows that there is some underlying jealousy coming from both sides. They don't hate each other, not really, he deduces, but he has a feeling that something went down a while ago that has negatively impacted both of them. He chooses not to dwell on it, though; instead, he has to focus on the fact that he is about to meet Jade West's family. He can only hope that they're not as crazy as she is.

–

They visit Jade's mother first. Beck leads them to a nice, fairly large house, explaining that her mother had recently moved, most likely assuming that Jade was not coming home. He observes her as she hesitates at the threshold, her eyes filled with regret. Then she quickly knocks.

As soon as the door opens, he sees the woman on the other side of the door's eyes fill with tears. Quickly, she throws her arms around Jade, clutching her tightly. "Jadelyn! I thought you were dead!"

"Don't call me that," Jade hisses, jerking her hand from his with an angry scowl. That's when the loving moment is over and tension fills the room. The Doctor thinks that he might be able to cut it with his sonic screwdriver.

Leaning over to Beck, he whispers quietly, "Is it always like this?"

"Tense?" Beck questions, running a hand through his fairly flawless hair. "Yeah, sort of. I tried to cut the tension with a knife once, but it was too thick." The kid chuckles at his own corny joke, and the Doctor laughs uneasily as well.

He thinks to himself that he already has this boy pegged. He's casual, easygoing, 'rebellious', corny, the typical nice guy, basically the yin to Jade's yang, the opposite of the high-strung, angry girl he has come to know. And he finds himself thinking that they would go good together, Beck and Jade.

"Hello, Mrs. West," Beck says casually, giving Jade's mum a small salute, so the Doctor decides to try an entirely different approach.

"Hello, miss!" The Doctor bounds forward, giving her hand a nice, firm shake. "I'm the Doctor!"

"Are you the one my Jadelyn ran off with?" she questions, sounding perfectly innocent, and he takes a step back in fear, remembering the damage that Rose's mum had done to his face.

"Um, yes," he says, giving her mother a long look. "Well, sort of. It wasn't exactly a choice. She randomly ended up on my traveling device, and well..."

"And you didn't immediately bring her home," the woman continues, looking as calm as ever, as if she is not accusing him of kidnapping her daughter, but instead merely asking him for a handkerchief or something else that's just as trivial.

That's when Jade jumps in. "Mom, I didn't _want_ to come back," she tells her venomously. "There's nothing here for me."

Beck looks a bit offended at that, but Jade doesn't notice. Instead, she just stomps into the kitchen, her boots echoing against the tile. Of course, like any other mum, Jade's mum follows her into the kitchen, talking softly about how she's just simply disappointed that Jade hadn't bothered to alert her as to her whereabouts but she loves her and all of that. And, of course, Jade doesn't buy it.

"Got a boyfriend now?" Jade hisses, picking up a large flannel shirt from the couch. "Seems there's a lot you're not telling me either!"

"Jadelyn, please settle down," her mother says, calm as ever. "Come sit down for a moment. I'll make some coffee, and you can tell me about your, erm, new boyfriend, and I'll tell you about mine."

"Two sugars," Beck comments from beside Jade, and the Doctor notices the way that she smiles slightly, though he doesn't comment.

Even though she seems to have calmed down a bit (Beck seems to have that effect on her), she still scowls. "He's not my boyfriend, and I don't want any of your coffee! I just want to–" She cuts herself off, a look of disgust still present upon her face. "I didn't want to come back here, y'know," she says in a casual sort of way that implies that they are stupid for even assuming it was her idea to return. "He made me. So you can thank him, I suppose. And yes, I'm still alive." She rolls her dark-rimmed eyes viciously. "Unfortunately enough. You can thank him for that too. I'm leaving soon, so you can assume that I am alive unless you hear otherwise." Her eyes drop to the ground, revealing some sort of insecurity that she probably hopes they do not see. "I'll see you later. Don't bother coming to look for me."

She runs out, slamming the door loudly behind her. Quickly, he feels himself turn to go after her. He seizes Beck's arm as well, a silent warning that Beck should come along if he wants to regain his relationship with Jade.

The two of them dash down the road after the mysterious girl. At last, they catch up to her. Looking up, he notices that they are under a streetlight. It bathes them in a dim light and causes Jade to look even scarier than usual.

Angrily, she tells him, "I'm not going back, especially if you tell me to. I hate all of them."

"Do you hate me?"

Surprised, she glances up to meet Beck's eyes before slowly shaking her head. "No. I try to, but... no, I don't."

It is silent for a moment before Beck, who seems to be much braver due to Jade's admission, speaks up. "Jade, I think you should go see your dad."

"NO," she bellows, the loud noise echoing in the emptiness around her.

Beck sighs, and the Doctor glances up at Beck, mouthing, "Is their relationship worse than hers with her mum?" Frowning, Beck nods.

"I hate my dad," Jade continues, obviously still in a horrid mood. "He thinks he's so superior because he's rich and sort of famous, I don't know, but he's just an idiotic buffoon. He thinks he can tell me what to do!"

"He's your _dad_," the Doctor points out.

"And he has been worried about you," Beck finishes up, looking slightly pleased with himself. "He thinks that you're dead. And if I try and tell him that you're not, he won't believe me. You know that he has never really liked me! He'd probably despise the Doctor even more!" Upon seeing that he's breaking down Jade, Beck's smile curves up just a bit more, and the Doctor decides that this Beck kid isn't so bad. If he can keep control of Jade, well, then he gets a lot of bonus points in his book. She's almost as bad as the Daleks, really! Smirking, Beck continues, "C'mon, Jade, just for a bit. If you don't want to stay, we'll all leave with you."

"Fine," Jade relents at last, a frown upon her face. "But if he's the same guy he used to be– if he tells me that my decisions are _messed up_ or anything like that, then I'm leaving and you two are coming with me."

"Deal," the Doctor tells her, and Beck nods in agreement.

–

"Jadelyn West," her father says as they sit uncomfortably in the large, fairly outrageous sitting room. "Jadelyn West, you mean to tell me that you disappeared to travel and didn't bother mentioning it to anyone?"

"It wasn't exactly planned," Jade informs him, her eyes looking as if she would love to shoot daggers through him.

"What, so you just randomly ended up on a plane?" Her father raises his eyebrows.

"Exactly!" She threw up her hands as if to signal how exasperated she was already. "And then I kind of did some minor traveling. I wasn't exactly keeping up with time. Time flies when you're seeing the world."

"And have you got a job, Jadelyn?" her father questions, staring at her sternly. It looks kind of condescending from what the Doctor can deduce, and he assumes that, apart from her various acting gigs, Jade has never had a real job.

"Not at this moment, no," she informs him icily.

"Then how did you acquire all of that money to go traveling?" He sounds suspicious now more than anything, and the Doctor can understand why. When she puts it in normal human terms, it does sound rather unbelievable, but the thing is that for once she is telling the complete and utter truth.

"I still had some money left over from my acting jobs," Jade hissed, giving him an angry glare. "It's not like I'm _poor_ or anything. I know what I'm doing, Father."

"Well, now that you back, I think it's prudent that you should get a job–" he begins. The Doctor squeezes his eyes shut, knowing that this won't turn out right.

"I'm not _staying_! I'm definitely not staying here, at least!" Jade bellows, jumping up out of her chair. "And even if I were to stay, what job would you suggest? Accountant? Something that requires sitting at a boring little desk for over half the day?"

"You can't live your entire life as an actress!" he informs her, his voice still not sounding anything but completely calm and relaxed. "You have to get a real job sometime."

"Acting is a real job," she hisses, storming out the door and slamming it shut behind her.

"Well," the Doctor says, jumping up out of his chair, "it was a pleasure to meet you, sir, and maybe I'll see you some other time. Thanks for your kind hospitality and all! Allons-y!"

As the two of them begin to run down the road after Jade, Beck pants out, "Well, that didn't exactly go as planned."

"No, not really," the Doctor agrees. "You didn't tell me that he's incredibly disapproving of Jade's chosen career. That's got to put a damper on the relationship."

"She doesn't really talk about him much," Beck says even more quietly than before, staring down at the road as he runs. "I mean, she didn't really talk about him much. I assumed that something was wrong there, but I never thought to probe into it."

"Unlike her," the Doctor chuckles. "She's into everything."

"Yeah, we're kind of opposites," Beck replies. "In that, and in everything else."

"I've noticed," the Doctor breathes out. They've nearly caught up with her at that point, and they watch in stunned silence as she jerks a shiny key out of her pocket and opens the door to the TARDIS. It swings open and she runs inside.

"Where did you get that?" the Doctor breathes, and then he takes off running, leaving Beck in the dust behind him. She seems to be pressing switches and buttons and kicking the central part of the TARDIS, which he knows could result in any number of horrible things. He has to stop her–

But just as he reaches the TARDIS, some burst of light explodes. He swears he hears Beck scream and yell to Jade that he loves her before they explode into the sky. The light is blinding, and he cannot so much as see his hand in front of him. In fact, he cannot see anything.

He wants to yell, to ask Jade what she has done this time, but it seems sort of impossible, considering that they are most likely soaring through the sky. All he can do is squeeze his (possibly nonexistent) eyes shut and hope for the best.

When his vision and his sense of touch return, he is laying against the cold metal floor of the TARDIS. It is then that it hits him- _cold metal_? The floor of the TARDIS is usually warm, roaring with life, but now it is silent, cold, and dead. Quickly, he shoots to his feet and begins pressing the controls, but nothing happens. It is then that it hits him.

_She has transported both of them to the alternate universe._

His first reflex is to ask how in the universe she managed to do that. It is a feat that no one has achieved, interuniversal transport, and yet she has managed it accidentally. His second is fear, because he has no idea how they will return to their universe.

She comes up behind him then, placing a tentative hand on his shoulder. "Is it broken?" she asks in a voice quieter than any he has heard her use before.

"No," he replies, his voice small at first, though it gets louder as he goes on. "No, it can't be! It just can't!" He bends down, pressing his face to the cold metal grate. It is then that he sees a small light.

"Pass me my screwdriver," he commands, and she hands it to him. He pulls off the grate, digs through the various parts of the TARDIS, and finally comes across the small, feeble light.

"It'll do," he deduces after a moment, "but it may take a while to recharge, and... it might not recharge."

"We could be trapped here forever?" Jade asks quietly, pushing open the door. "Wait a minute, where _are _we?"

He knows that she will be fooled, if just for a moment. The city outside is a direct replica of the one they had just been to, though it seems to have a darker aura about it. He hears her breathe in deeply.

"This isn't Hollywood, is it?" she asks, kicking a rock in front of her. "I mean, some freak has designed it to _look_ like Hollywood, but it's not really. It is..."

"An alternate universe," the Doctor finishes proudly, a great smile on his face. "Really, I should be thanking you. I thought that I'd never find a way back here again."

"You've been here before?" Jade raises an eyebrow at him.

"Well, no, not here as in this Hollywood, but yes, I have been to this universe before," the Doctor grins. "I have an, erm, a friend here." He can feel his heart rate increase at just the prospect of seeing Rose again. "She lives here, well, she used to live in our universe, but she lives here now. Imagine we could spare a bit of time to go see her?"

"You did say it'd take a while for it to recharge," Jade shrugs, looking a bit thrilled at the prospect for some unknown reason. "Where does she live, anyway?"

"London," the Doctor tells her nonchalantly, a mysterious smile upon his face.

"London," Jade repeats, not looking surprised at all. "Isn't that in Africa?"

He has to laugh, mentally taking note of the fact that Jade West is not good at geography. Then he simply shakes his head. "England, actually."

"Oh, well, close enough, and far enough from where we are," she concludes, glancing around at the Hollywood boulevard. It's about then that a girl launches herself at Jade, giggling like a lunatic.

"Jade!" she exclaims. "When did you get back?"

"From where?" Jade questions, raising an eyebrow in question before shooting the Doctor a look that most likely means that she's more confused than ever.

"From London, of course!" the perky redhead exclaims, a small grin upon her face. "You'll have to come by sometime; we could catch up! But right now I've got to get to Tori's! She promised to help me colour unicorns!" Just like that, the girl skips off, leaving two confused people in her wake.

"So, you're living in London now, huh?" the Doctor questions cheekily.

"Isn't England near Mexico?" Jade wonders, shrugging.

"No," the Doctor replies after a moment, trying to contain his amusement.

This makes her frown, as if she's completely baffled by geography in general, and she begins to walk once again. "Then no, because I have absolutely no clue where London even is."

"It's in Europe," the Doctor says pensively, glancing around. "And we have to go there, because Rose is there..."

"And the alternate version of me," Jade interrupts, smirking slightly. "And since I'm flawless just the way I am, this could be fun to see."

"I suppose," the Doctor replies after a moment. But then, remembering what had happened with Rose, he reminds her quickly, "Remember that everything you see here is not the same as in our universe. The people that you will see are not the same people you know. For example, that girl that just came up to you, what was her name?"

"Cat," Jade answers, seeming lost in thought.

"Right, Cat," the Doctor nods before continuing, "That Cat is not your Cat. She's not the one that you know. She knows a different version of you."

"Obviously," Jade wrinkles up her nose. "She said I'd lived in _England. _As if! I can hardly even tolerate the idiotic Canadians."

"Yes, because she knows the alternate version of you," he repeats. "You don't know this Cat."

"Yeah, I know that," Jade shrugs. "So, how are you planning on getting to England? Because, last you told me, it's a long way away. We can't exactly _walk_ there."

"No, I was thinking plane," the Doctor says casually.

"Well, I don't have any money, so don't you dare imply that I can pay for a plane ticket," she begins, but he just shakes his head at her.

After a moment of this, he finally speaks again. "You see, Jade, I'm the Doctor. I have control of time and space, so I'm pretty sure I can get us an airplane."

It takes a while and a fight with the lady at the ticket counter, but they end up with two tickets for a direct flight to England. A smile falls upon Jade's face. "Your manipulation skills need a lot of improvement. Maybe I could give you some lessons sometime."

"I don't need lessons in manipulation," he scoffs, glancing down at his ticket. "See Terminal 31 anywhere?"

He doesn't get a response, though, which worries and angers him at the same time. "Jade!" he calls, causing her to finally say "Yes?", though it sounds more half-hearted than anything.

For a moment, he just stares at her, puzzled. She looks stricken, as if she has seen a ghost, and finally she just points over at a guy, surrounded by a group of girls with cameras, autograph books, and big smiles. As if she is in a trance, she begins to walk toward him.

It takes him only a moment to figure out who it is, and his legs begin to move before his brain does. "No, Jade!" he yells, but it is too late; she saunters over to him with a big smile on her face.

As she sits down beside him, he hears her say, "Oliver, I didn't expect to see you here. Stalking me or something?"

Beck moves over, a blank look upon his face. "Do I _know_ you?"

"Yeah," she replies, puzzled. "It's Jade West, Beck, of course you know me. And if you don't, well, you haven't got a life. I'm sort of infamous, you see."

Frowning, Beck looks down at his watch, a watch that the Doctor realises one second too late is a communication device. The boy says "Mark, we've got a rogue fangirl over here at Terminal 25,", and the Doctor knows that is his cue to step in.

"Sir, I'm so sorry," the Doctor apologises profusely, finding it one of the strangest things in the world to apologise so formally to someone he has met quite a few times before. "She has amnesia, you see, and sometimes she thinks she remembers people that she doesn't. It won't happen again."

"It's fine," Beck says dismissively, returning to talking on his phone, and the Doctor grabs Jade's hand roughly so that he can lead her off.

Once they are out of earshot, he whispers roughly, "What were you _thinking_?"

"Lost my composure for a minute there," she says, hanging her head a little bit. "I knew it wasn't the same Beck that I knew, that I _know_, but I couldn't help myself. I wanted to see if he knew me in this universe or not. Obviously not." She flips her hair over her shoulder as she picks her head back up. "His loss."

"If you're done playing around, we've got a flight to catch," he replies brusquely, glancing back and forth in search of the terminal.

They catch sight of it just in time, and quickly head to the long line of , flashing their tickets to the irritated-looking flight attendants. Jade makes sure to give them a long, terrifying stare, causing one of the tiny flight attendants to give a small squeak of fear.

Of course, that also means that they search her more thoroughly, but once they are sure that despite her scary appearance, she poses no threat, the flight attendants let the two of them through.

"They took my scissors," she gripes as they sit down in their seats. "Those were my favourite pair!"

"They weren't your only pair?" the Doctor questions. He has come across many humans with strange collections, but this one just about beats them all. Folding his hands behind his head, he imagines her room before she'd met him, scissors lining the wall and all.

"I like scissors," she states simply, giving him a slight glare.

"Get a hobby," he snorts.

"Get a life," she retorts, but her words are slightly slurred. Turning, he watches as she drifts off to sleep.

Jade sleeps peacefully the whole time, much to his relief. When she is asleep, he notices, she is pretty, pretty and peaceful and not bothering him. It is a nice flight if he disregards the fact that he is incredibly nervous. Even the thought of seeing Rose again makes his heart feel as if it is about to explode.

Once they finally get there, they stumble tiredly off the plane and collect their baggage. "Where are we going now?" Jade hisses, yawning a bit at the end of her words.

"We need to get a hotel," the Doctor responds, so they hop on a bus and ride until they see the word HOTEL blaring at them from a side. Well, the Doctor sees it; Jade goes back to sleep. The two of them hop off the bus and walk into the hotel, where the Doctor flashes his piece of illusion paper at them.

"I'm a VIP guest," he tells them, so they escort him and Jade to a pretty nice bedroom (with two beds, much to his relief). Jade dozes off at once, and really, he swears that girl can sleep through anything. He just sits there for a while, his mind full, wondering how Rose will react when she sees him. He hopes desperately that she hasn't forgotten him, though his big ego tells him that it's impossible to forget him. After all, he's the _Doctor_ and he's sort of unforgettable.

His most prudent worry is that he worries that she has stopped loving him. Before, it was sort of as if she'd always been the one to care more; she was the first to say I love you, but what if now, she doesn't care about him at all? What if he's the one who has to chase after her?

His head spins, and before he knows it, it is morning. Jade's head finally emerges from under the myriad of blankets. Blinking, she says, "Didn't you sleep?"

"No," he chuckles, rubbing his bleary eyes. "Time Lord, remember? No need for sleep! Now get up; we've got places to be!"

"Places to be," she groans, but she gets up nonetheless and closes herself in the only bathroom. Rolling his eyes, he rubs the tiredness from his eyes and finger-combs his hair before slipping into a new suit that he'd picked up off the TARDIS before they'd set out. After all of that, Jade is still not out of the bathroom.

"Hurry up," he yells. "You don't have to look perfect; we're merely going to meet an old friend of mine."

"Old friend," Jade repeats as she steps out of the bathroom and raises an eyebrow at the doctor. "Is she female?"

Startled, the Doctor merely blinks at her. "Well, yes, but–"

"You loved her, didn't you?" Jade says bluntly as she steps out of the bathroom at last, her hands upon her curvacious hips. "This Rose chick."

"Well, um..." He trails off, his head spinning. "Yes, in a way."

Jade smirks, folding her hands together, and then pushes him out of the way as she heads toward the door. "Hurry up, Doctor!" she calls in a way that is obviously meant to mock him. "We've got places to go, _Rose_ to see!"

Rolling his eyes, he simply follows her.

–

He remembers the way to the Tyler house as if it is his own. Jade looks a bit surprised, but she doesn't even bother questioning him. Instead, she puts her feet up on the dash of the cab (which earns her a dirty look from the cab driver) and complains about how these cars drive on the wrong side of the road (which earns her a dirty look from the Doctor).

They finally pull up at the mansion. Jade's eyes widen, and she turns to scowl at him. "You didn't tell me your friend was loaded!"

"She isn't," he replies, his heart pounding even faster now as he gets out of the car. "Her dad is, well, in this universe at least."

Jade just gives a huffy sigh as she gets out of the car, leaving the Doctor behind to pay for the cab. He leaves the cabbie with an apologetic smile, as if to say that he is sorry for her behaviour. Internally, he wonders how many times Beck has had to apologise for Jade.

Being the impulsive one out of the two, Jade runs up to the door at once and knocks loudly. Rolling his eyes, the Doctor walks up to stand beside her. "You might break the door."

"How amazing would that be?" Jade says, something smug dancing in her eyes. Before he can so much as think on it, though, the door is pulled open, and Mickey Smith screams.

"Well, that's an awfully pleasant greeting, Mickey the Idiot," the Doctor greets him with a laugh. "How's life on the other side?"

"How are you _here_?" Mickey demands, his dark face whitening. "I mean, you're meant to be..."

"In another universe? Why yes, I am. Fancy finding Rose for me?" the Doctor requests, smiling at Mickey. Looking terrified still, Mickey flees, and the Doctor takes that as an invitation to step inside.

"It's a nice house, isn't it?" the Doctor muses. He presses his hand to his pocket, where the spare TARDIS part still rests. It feels warm to his touch, and he finds that slightly reassuring.

"Yep," Jade agrees, popping the 'p'.

That's when he sees her. At first, it's just a flash of blonde, but then it's a blur of blonde and white and Rose's body is back in his arms, back where she belongs. He pulls her closer for a minute, reveling in the fact that she is back with him, and then he lets her go.

"You're back," she says, still not removing her hand from his arm. "Oh my... you're back."

"I couldn't very well leave you forever," he tells her. "After all, you did promise _me_ forever."

"Forever," she confirms, resting her chin on his shoulder. He feels the tears start to trail down her cheeks. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I thought the same, to be brutally honest," he laughs, his hand immediately going up to thumb away her tears. "Then I met this young lady right here."

Jade steps up, giving Rose one of those infamous looks of hers, one that means that she is silently judging Rose. After a moment, she finally speaks. "You're Rose, right? Unless I'm wrong, though I hardly ever am."

"And who are you?" Rose asks defensively, pulling away from the Doctor but tightening her grip on his arm. "I've never heard of you before!"

"That's because we exist in different universes, you freak," Jade laughs. "I'm Jade West. From America, in case you couldn't tell. I mean, I know you're from England."

"Well, obviously," Rose replies, putting a little more emphasis on the word obviously so that she sounds even more British. "How did you meet him?" She jabs her thumb at the Doctor.

"She sort of, um, appeared on my ship," the Doctor scratches the back of his neck.

"Because I'm just that amazing," Jade smirks, walking forward and sticking out a hand. "That buffoon wouldn't shut up about you, so you must be all right."

"Rose Tyler," Rose introduces herself awkwardly, before pulling back and smiling. She turns back to the Doctor. "So, have you got the TARDIS back? Wait, are you going to stay here?" She grins hopefully, and it sort of breaks the Doctor's heart.

"I'm afraid I can't," he replies. "I've got a duty, Rose. You know that."

"Is there room for one more, though?" Rose asks, sounding completely and utterly giddy.

"Why, yes, I do believe there is," the Doctor replies, grinning back at Jade to show how ecstatic he is to have Rose back. "That is, if you're still interested in travelling with me?"

Everyone in the room seems to hold their breath, including Jackie and Pete Tyler, the latest arrivals. Rose just nods, giving him that adorable grin of hers, before rushing to her room. "I've got to pack," she announces as she flees.

"Of course," Jackie Tyler says, positioning her hands on her round belly. "Of course, you come back and she comes crawling back to you, completely disregarding her family–"

"Don't tell Rose, but it's merely a possibility," the Doctor shrugs. "We might be stuck here forever. But if we've got Jade, she'll find a way."

Jade gives them a forced smile before raising an eyebrow. "And you weirdos are?"

"Jackie and Pete Tyler," Pete says, offering Jade a huge smile. "Rose's parents. And what is that _thing_ in your eyebrow?"

"It's an eyebrow stud," Jade says defensively. "Don't be jealous because I'm not old and wrinkly like you and I can have things like eyebrow studs."

Whistling, Pete steps back. "Someone's a little rebellious."

"Get used to it," Jade retorts. "Doctor, tell your little girlfriend to hurry up!"

Of course, the Doctor doesn't even think for a moment that she could be jealous; Jade has Beck and he has Rose, obviously. But by the look on Jackie's face, it is obvious that she thinks that Jade might be.

Rolling his eyes, the Doctor grabs Jade's wrist and drags her over to where he assumes Rose's room should be. "Nearly done?" he yells.

At last, Rose emerges, grinning at him. "Yeah, I'm done," she says, and he releases Jade's wrist. The three of them walk out to the room where Jackie, Pete, and Mickey are standing, all looking as if they are at a funeral.

"You're actually leaving?" Jackie says, her voice cracking in the middle of the sentence. "Just like that? The Doctor comes back for you and you leave all of us, everything you've worked for here, behind?"

"I have to," Rose informs her mom, her strength leaking through her words. "I love you, but I love him too, and I adore travelling."

"I'll see you again someday, won't I?" her mom asks, sounding agonized.

"Yes, you will," Rose replies. "You just have to trust me."

The Doctor turns away, not wanting to watch Rose hug her mother for what very well may be the last time.

Once all the farewells are made, Rose gathers her things and follows Jade and the Doctor out to the cab. As they silently load her things, Rose asks quietly, "Do you really think that I'll come back someday, Doctor?"

"I know that there is a possibility now," the Doctor replies, and that is that.

–

In the cab, Rose informs them of what she knows about Jade's alternate universe self. She tells them about how the Jade she has heard about is what one might call a 'bad guy', working against everything that Rose (and, at one point, the Doctor) work for.

"Bull," Jade states calmly. "What could have happened that changed me so much?"

"For one," the Doctor begins, and as soon as it enters his mind, he knows it to be true, "You never met Beck."

He can see in her eyes that she knows it to be true, but she doesn't say anything about it. Instead, she speaks directly to Rose. "Tyler. You said you know where the alternate me is. Take me there."

Rose looks shocked, but she speaks in a low voice to the cabbie nonetheless and he speeds off. Turning, she rotates her head so that she is staring at the other girl. "Jade, are you sure you want to see this?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Jade retorts, her voice more terrified than angry. "Would I tell you to take me there If I wasn't sure?"

But when the Doctor's eyes meet Rose's, he understands exactly why Rose is being so stubborn about this. The alternate Jade is in jail.

His thoughts swim, and as he looks over at the confused, angry girl, he feels a sudden rush of gratitude towards both Beck Oliver and the fact that in his universe, she is on the good side.

"What are you staring at?" she demands, giving him a hard stare, and he turns back out to stare at the road.

–

He watches silently as they are led down the halls, past rows of prisoners that he doesn't recognize, until they finally reach the prison cell that the guard tells them is Jade West's.

The girl in the prison cell looks up at them through dark eyes. Unlike Jade's jet-black hair, hers is dark brown, scraggly, and long. It is not streaked with colour like Jade's; instead, it is simply bleak and boring, much like the girl's eyes.

"Do you want something?" she demands. Looking over at his universe's Jade, he sees pure terror on her face for what might be the first time. Her features are dotted with fear and disbelief, as if she is suddenly seeing for the first time how very much she needs Beck.

Jade steps out from behind them then, staring at herself for a moment before shaking her head. "How did you get in there?"

"I made a few bad decisions; nothing new," the other Jade replies hastily. "Have you come to bail me out?"

"You wish," Jade hisses, her voice trembling. She kicks the bars. "I'm not your bail boy. Find your own way out."

Then she turns and dashes down the corridor, the sound of her footsteps echoing against the empty walls, and the other Jade gives the Doctor a what-the-heck type of look. "Has she got mental problems?" she questions, raising an eyebrow.

"No," the Doctor says coolly, "but you do. C'mon, Rose, let's get out of here."

His fingers entwine with hers once again, and he revels in the feeling that he has missed so very much. It occurs to him that he can't have his forever with her, but perhaps spending a slice of it with her wouldn't be so bad.

–

"We have to leave," Jade panics after they leave the jail. "We have to leave now."

So they do. They book the fastest airplane back to California, and this time, instead of watching Jade sleep, he gets to watch Rose sleep. He feels like a creeper, but once her head falls onto his shoulder, he decides that it doesn't matter and instead he basks in her warmth.

Once they finally arrive, Jade seems to fully awaken. She barrels through the airport with all the speed of an airplane, grabs her baggage, throws Rose and the Doctor theirs, and then exits the building.

"Someone's a little excited," Rose remarks dryly, hoisting up her suitcase.

They follow her nonetheless, and they end up in a cab that is on a 'straight path to Beck's house', at least according to the slightly incoherent Jade. Once they get there, Jade runs up to the door of the RV and starts to bang on it.

"Does he even live there?" Rose questions, and the Doctor elbows her, though he finds himself chuckling as well.

At last, Beck throws open the door, looking as if he has just climbed out of bed. "Jade!" he exclaims, but before he can say anything else, Jade grabs his face and kisses him. It's a needy, hungry kind of kiss, and Beck responds almost immediately, much to the Doctor's delight.

Even though it is basically already evident, Beck makes a point to pull away from Jade, if just for a second, and whisper the words that she probably needs to hear– _I love you_.

"I love you too," Jade whispers back, and the Doctor can tell that she does not say those words often because Beck looks surprised, not necessarily a bad sort of surprised, and then Beck is kissing her again with fire and passion so the Doctor has to look away.

"Imagine they'll notice if we ditch?" the Doctor whispers, leaning so that his head is just beside Rose's.

Rose laughs, a sound he realises now that he has actually missed a lot, and he decides that it is too much trouble to bother resisting anymore. Sure, it is probably forbidden in a million different ways, but he has waited for weeks and now...

He leans over and presses his lips to hers, softly at first but then more roughly. It is a pleasurable experience, he thinks, one that he does not experience often – not since the last time he kissed Rose, and he was Nine then, not Ten. Though he won't admit it, he thinks that he might like to do this more often.

Once he pulls away, he stares at her for a long, lingering moment, just enjoying the fact that she is there.

"I love you," she breathes.

"Does it need saying?" he tells her in response.

–

He takes a seat beside her on the bench, smiling over at her despite the dark look on her face.

"I told Beck about my opinions on all of your posh accents today," she scowls, kicking her feet back and forth. "He told me that it was my decision to come here. I swear he's going to hang that over me for the rest of my life."

"You love him really," the Doctor laughs. "I heard you have a ring now."

"You heard correctly," Jade says, flashing her ring at him, "though I'm rather inclined to believe that you're a stalker now. Unless Tyler told you."

"You could call her by her first name, you know," the Doctor laughs. "We came back just to visit you and Beck; you _could_ be grateful."

"I'm not." She gives him a long, complex smile. "Anyway, I've got to go soon. Beck insists that we go dress shopping today. I think he has a death wish."

"You could invite Rose and I to tag along," he suggests, raising an eyebrow.

"If you want to die, then sure, come along," Jade replies nastily. "I mean, dresses and I get along _so _well, especially when Vega's there too." She groans. "Sometimes I wish that there were actual aliens here, just so I wouldn't have to deal with this stupid monotony every day."

"There are aliens everywhere, Jade," he tells her seriously. "You just have to look."

He points his finger off at a group of schoolkids. One turns to look at them, and as he does, his eyes flash a nasty shade of green. Laughing, he just simply shakes his head. "Life's all about finding the danger in everyday life."

As she walks off, fades away into the distance, he stares at the silver ring on his own finger and wonders what sort of everyday dangers he will face during his 'forever' with Rose.

* * *

><p><strong>AN: Oh my gosh, that was long.**

**Credit to Chrissy (let'.) for the idea and to Blue for encouragement and Jade for letting me use weird traits of hers. Thanks to everyone for the encouragement, I wrote this in less than three days, but it took hours of work so I'd really appreciate it if you reviewed, no matter how short. Please don't favorite without reviewing, I will PM you!**

**Sorry if this is a bit OOC; I've only just started season 3 of DW and Jade is not working well with me.**


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